drawn in works not only by Debussy and Poulenc but also by Ned Rorem and Christopher Berg (in- cluding the première of "Postal Pastimes," songs on carte-de-visite texts by Mallarmé) in an intimate setting. (La Maison Française, 16 Washington Mews. 212-998-8750. Feb. 3 at 8.) OSVALDO GOLIJOV.S IIAYRE II New music's man of the moment is being fêted by Lincoln Center this month, and the performance of this electro-acoustic song cycle based largely on old Sephardic tunes (already popular on CD) will cause a good deal of excitement. Dawn Upshaw sings it, accompanied by an assortment of top-drawer instru- mentalists known as the Andalucian Dogs. (Rose Theatre, Broadway at 60th St. 212-721-6500. Feb. 4 at 8.) T ACTUS: IIWHO BY WATER II Michael Gordon and Bill Morrison, the composer- filmmaker team known for "Decasia," their entic- ing and disturbing fantasia about destruction and decay, have returned with a new work (inspired by words from the Rosh Hashanah service), performed by Patti Monson's expert and appealing ensemble from the Manhattan School. (Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W 67th St. 212-501-3330. Feb. 4 at 8.) EMMANUEL PAHUD AND YEFIM BRONFMAN The Berlin Philharmonic's plush-toned solo flutist and his commanding pianist colleague offer a program that features Reineke's "Undine" Sonata, Prokofiev's Flute Sonata in D Major, and transcriptions of Brahms's two Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano. (Zankel Hall. 212-247-7800. Feb. 7 at 7:30.) 92ND STREET Y: STEVEN ISSERLIS A recital of music by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms (the Sonata No.1 in E Minor for Cello and Piano), and Czech composers, offered by the acclaimed English cellist. (Lexington Ave. at 92nd St. 212-415-5500. Feb. 7 at 8.) ORLANDO CONSORT In "The Rose, the Lily, and the Whortleberry," the noted British male vocal quartet celebrates music on floral themes by such fourteenth-century mas- ters as Arcadelt, Jannequin, Machaut, and Dufay. (Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W 67th St. 212-501- 3330. Feb. 7 at 8.) MOVIES OPENING BLOSSOMS OF FIRE Maureen Gosling directed this documentary about the Isthmus Zapotecs of Mexico. In Spanish and Zapotec. Opening Feb. 3. (Cinema Village.) A GOOD WOMAN Helen Hunt, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Wilkin- son star in this adaptation of "Lady Windermere's Fan," by Oscar Wilde. Directed by Mike Barker. Opening Feb. 3. (In wide release.) SOMETHING NEW In this romantic comedy, an African-American woman executive (Sanaa Lathan) gets involved with a Cau- casian landscaper (Simon Baker). Directed by Sanaa Hamri. Opening Feb. 3. (In wide release.) THE TENANTS In this adaptation of Bernard Malamud's novel, a Jewish writer (Dylan McDermott) and an African- American writer (Snoop Dogg) share an abandoned apartment building. Directed by Danny Green. Opening Feb. 3. (Empire 25.) THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA Reviewed this week in The Current Cinema. Open- ing Feb. 3. (In wide release.) THE TOLLBOOTH A comedy, directed by Debra Kirschner, about the conflicts of three adult daughters with their traditional Jewish family in Brooklyn. Opening Feb. 3. (Quad Cinema.) WHEN A STRANGER CALLS A remake of the 1979 horror film in which a baby- sitter is harassed by a crank caller. Directed by Simon West. Opening Feb. 3. (In wide release.) WHO GETS TO CALL IT ART? Reviewed below in Now Playing. Opening Feb. 1. (Film Forum.) NOW PLAYING BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN In the summer of 1963, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Led- ger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) herd the sheep on Brokeback Mountain, in Wyoming, and fall in love. Ang Lee's movie traces the ups and downs of that love over many years, making it clear that the downs are fated to outnumber the ups. The film has a curious motion to begin with, managing to seem at once hectic and sluggish; once the heroes start to grow up, however, and thus to struggle against their feelings, the story comes painfully alive, and the per- formances stretch toward the tragic. There is fine support from Anne Hathaway and Michelle Wil- liams as the baffled wives of the two men and from Kate Mara as Ennis's teen-age daughter, but the pic- ture belongs to Ledger, whose downcast gaze and chewed-up words bear almost unbearable testimony to a heart under siege. Any attempt to promote this as an issue movie, gripped by an agenda, feels badly misplaced; the only issue here is the oldest and most sorrowful one of all.-Anthony Lane (Reviewed in our issue of 12/12/05.) (In wide release.) BUBBLE Martha (Debbie Doebereiner), large in body and heart, toils alongside Kyle (Dustin James Ashley) at the local doll factory. Although their relationship is platonic, she assumes that he is hers until a new hire, the sly and brazen Rose (Misty Dawn Wilkins), enters the scene. Filming on location with nonpro- fessional actors drawn from locals along the Ohio- West Virginia border, Steven Soderbergh revitalizes the eternal triangle with a low-key yet ravishing homespun neorealism. He deftly sketches the quiet grace of his trio as they bear their frustrations at work and their burdens at home, and he enhances their drama to vital effect through his use of high- definition video. The technique's wealth of visual de- tail lets him capture his characters in long shot, ren- dering them inextricable from their industrial setting and its dazzling profusion of artificial colors and forms. Together with the tersely efficient script by Coleman Hough, Soderbergh's images raise the story from the crime blotter to a coolly damning medita- tion on modern moods in the land of two jobs and no benefits.-Richard Brody (Sunshine Cinema.) GO FOR ZUCKER Widely described as the first Jewish comedy made in Germany since the war, the movie was an enor- mous hit in that country last year (and also in Is- rael), and part of the reason must be that its ex- Communist Berlin hero, Jaecki Zucker (Henry Hübchen), né Jakob Zuckermann, a liar, drinker, gambler, and part-time brothel-keeper, has so much life in him that he's impossible to dislike. When Jaecki's mother dies, the terms of the will require that he and his family sit shivah with his Orthodox brother, who long ago moved to Frankfurt. The stage is set for farce. The writer-director, Dani Levy, a forty-eight-year-old German Jew, was born in Swit- zerland after his mother escaped Berlin in 1939. Levy spent some time in a circus when he was a teen-ager; as an entertainer, he's not above using crude comedy tropes now and then, but the actors are all terrific, and, watching Levy's antic inventions, one may be moved by the thought that Jews have achieved a kind of Germanness again, and even more moved by the thought that Germans have achieved a kind of Jewishness again.-David Denby (1/23 & 30/06) (Sunshine Cinema.) GROUNDHOG DAY Even if you applaud Bill Murray's evolution from in- spired comedian to minimalist seriocomic actor, it's a relief to revisit his most varied and charming role as Phil Connors, a Pittsburgh weatherman who views his assignment to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, as perdi- tion. With fractured-fairy-tale logic, or a telescoped, slapstick rendering of Nietzsche's eternal retum, he finds himself doomed to repeat the holiday until he weans himself of careerism and ego and becomes rounded and selfless enough for Andie MacDowell, his beautiful, unpretentious, and almost preternatu- rally nice producer. Without ditching his arsenal of ironic inflections and his nonpareil ability to make NATIONAL BESTSELLER A d r ,,* tour e Iorce from the New 1órk Tinles bestselling author of léar of Wonders BY TILE A I . R 0 F Year of Wonders ARCH I - -t ,'+ \.. "I , ---I G RALD BIiO NE S 'El.n""'i th. ng ""'''ing " tit. "'>ding cor it_" _ . , , <;tot, open tho, la"", KAttE>I Joy Fo . """'It Iong.,r WLtttt, (,'f W'\sJj /JrGTQJ< PQST B _ 11 - t " rl Ian_ -Chicago Tribune A first-rate historical novel that borrows Jo's offstage father from Little VVómen and imagines for him a dramatic midlife reckoning." - The Yfull Street Journal HA beautifully wrought story." -Los Angeles Times Book Review* HIn Year of Wonders. .. Brooks proved herself to be a wonderful novelist. March has all the same virtues. . . casting a spell that lasts much longer than the reading of it. " -Karen Joy Fowler, shington Post Book V\0rld Reading Group Guide available at www.geraldinebrooks.com NOW IN PAPERBACK ALSO AVAILABLE FROM PENGUIN AUDIO Penguin Books . A member of Penguin GrouP. (USA) www.pengum.com THE NEW YORKER, FEBRUARY 6, 2006 25